Nenad Sestan, MD, PhD

Research Organizations

Child Study Center

Comparative Medicine

Psychiatry: Neurocognition, Neurocomputation, and Neurogenetics, Division of

Center for RNA Science and Medicine, Yale

Faculty Research

Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program

Program in Neurodevelopment and Regeneration

Stem Cell Center, Yale: iPSC and neural induction

Office of Cooperative Research

Research Summary

Research in our laboratory investigates how neurons acquire distinct identities and form precise connections in the developing cerebral cortex, a part of the brain involved in a variety of higher cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions. We also study how these developmental processes have changed during evolution and in human disorders. We study these problems for primarily two reasons. The first reason is to explore what it is about our brain that makes us human. The most important distinction between humans and other species is largely thought to reside in the unique features of human brain development, especially the way in which intricate neuronal circuits of the cerebral cortex are wired. The second reason for this research is to understand why humans suffer from certain brain diseases. The emergence of intricate neuronal circuits has given us remarkable cognitive abilities, but may have also increased our susceptibility to disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

An important element of our research is the integration of complementary approaches at the interface of developmental neurobiology, molecular biology, comparative genomics, and genetics. To achieve this, we combine

1. Analyses of evolutionarily conserved developmental mechanisms using the genetically tractable mouse model
2. Comparative analyses to identify human-specific features of brain development
3. Genetic and molecular analyses of disorders of human cognitive development

Selected Publications

• The emerging biology of autism spectrum disorders.

  State MW, Sestan N (2012) The emerging biology of autism spectrum disorders. Science 337, 1301-1303.

• Cis-regulatory control of corticospinal system development and evolution.

  Shim S, Kwan KY, Li M, Lefebvre V, Sestan N (2012) Cis-regulatory control of corticospinal system development and evolution. Nature 86, 74-79.

• Species-dependent post-transcriptional regulation of NOS1 by FMRP in the developing cerebral cortex

  Kwan KY, Lam MMS, Johnson MB, Dube U, Shim S, Rasin MR, Sousa AMM, Fertuzinhos S, Chen JG, Arellano JI, Chan DW, Pletikos M, Vasung L, Rowitch DH, Huang EJ, Schwartz ML, Willemsen R, Oostra BA, Rakic P, Heffer M, Kostovic I, Judas M, Sestan N (2012) Species-dependent post-transcriptional regulation of NOS1 by FMRP in the developing cerebral cortex. Cell 149, 895-911.

• Kang HY, Kawasawa YI, Cheng F, Zhu F, Xu X, Li M, Sousa AMM, Pletikos M, Meyer KA, Sedmak G, Guennel T, Shin Y, Johnson MB, Krsnik Z, Mayer S, Fertuzinhos S, Umlauf S, Lisgo SN, Vortmeyer A, Weinberger DR, Mane S, Hyde TM, Huttner A, Reimers M, Kleinman

Full List of PubMed Publications

• Castiglioni V, Faedo A, Onorati M, Bocchi VD, Li Z, Iennaco R, Vuono R, Bulfamante GP, Muzio L, Martino G, Sestan N, Barker RA, Cattaneo E: Dynamic and Cell-Specific DACH1 Expression in Human Neocortical and Striatal Development. Cereb Cortex. 2018 Apr 24; 2018 Apr 24. PMID: 29688344
• Mi D, Li Z, Lim L, Li M, Moissidis M, Yang Y, Gao T, Hu TX, Pratt T, Price DJ, Sestan N, Marín O: Early emergence of cortical interneuron diversity in the mouse embryo. Science. 2018 Apr 6; 2018 Feb 22. PMID: 29472441
• Diao Y, Cui L, Chen Y, Burbridge TJ, Han W, Wirth B, Sestan N, Crair MC, Zhang J: Reciprocal Connections Between Cortex and Thalamus Contribute to Retinal Axon Targeting to Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus. Cereb Cortex. 2018 Apr 1. PMID: 28334242
• Bae T, Tomasini L, Mariani J, Zhou B, Roychowdhury T, Franjic D, Pletikos M, Pattni R, Chen BJ, Venturini E, Riley-Gillis B, Sestan N, Urban AE, Abyzov A, Vaccarino FM: Different mutational rates and mechanisms in human cells at pregastrulation and neurogenesis. Science. 2018 Feb 2; 2017 Dec 7. PMID: 29217587
• Feng L, Jeon T, Yu Q, Ouyang M, Peng Q, Mishra V, Pletikos M, Sestan N, Miller MI, Mori S, Hsiao S, Liu S, Huang H: Population-averaged macaque brain atlas with high-resolution ex vivo DTI integrated into in vivo space. Brain Struct Funct. 2017 Dec; 2017 Jun 20. PMID: 28634624
• Carlyle BC, Kitchen RR, Kanyo JE, Voss EZ, Pletikos M, Sousa AMM, Lam TT, Gerstein MB, Sestan N, Nairn AC: A multiregional proteomic survey of the postnatal human brain. Nat Neurosci. 2017 Dec; 2017 Nov 13. PMID: 29184206
• Sousa AMM, Zhu Y, Raghanti MA, Kitchen RR, Onorati M, Tebbenkamp ATN, Stutz B, Meyer KA, Li M, Kawasawa YI, Liu F, Perez RG, Mele M, Carvalho T, Skarica M, Gulden FO, Pletikos M, Shibata A, Stephenson AR, Edler MK, Ely JJ, Elsworth JD, Horvath TL, Hof PR, Hyde TM, Kleinman JE, Weinberger DR, Reimers M, Lifton RP, Mane SM, Noonan JP, State MW, Lein ES, Knowles JA, Marques-Bonet T, Sherwood CC, Gerstein MB, Sestan N: Molecular and cellular reorganization of neural circuits in the human lineage. Science. 2017 Nov 24. PMID: 29170230
• Ecker JR, Geschwind DH, Kriegstein AR, Ngai J, Osten P, Polioudakis D, Regev A, Sestan N, Wickersham IR, Zeng H: The BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Consortium: Lessons Learned toward Generating a Comprehensive Brain Cell Atlas. Neuron. 2017 Nov 1. PMID: 29096072
• Zhang M, Chen D, Xia J, Han W, Cui X, Neuenkirchen N, Hermes G, Sestan N, Lin H: Post-transcriptional regulation of mouse neurogenesis by Pumilio proteins. Genes Dev. 2017 Aug 9; 2017 Aug 9. PMID: 28794184
• Gu Z, Kalambogias J, Yoshioka S, Han W, Li Z, Kawasawa YI, Pochareddy S, Li Z, Liu F, Xu X, Wijeratne HRS, Ueno M, Blatz E, Salomone J, Kumanogoh A, Rasin MR, Gebelein B, Weirauch MT, Sestan N, Martin JH, Yoshida Y: Control of species-dependent cortico-motoneuronal connections underlying manual dexterity. Science. 2017 Jul 28. PMID: 28751609
• Sousa AMM, Meyer KA, Santpere G, Gulden FO, Sestan N: Evolution of the Human Nervous System Function, Structure, and Development. Cell. 2017 Jul 13. PMID: 28708995
• Meyer KA, Marques-Bonet T, Sestan N: Differential Gene Expression in the Human Brain Is Associated with Conserved, but Not Accelerated, Noncoding Sequences. Mol Biol Evol. 2017 May 1. PMID: 28204568
• Sgourdou P, Mishra-Gorur K, Saotome I, Henagariu O, Tuysuz B, Campos C, Ishigame K, Giannikou K, Quon JL, Sestan N, Caglayan AO, Gunel M, Louvi A: Disruptions in asymmetric centrosome inheritance and WDR62-Aurora kinase B interactions in primary microcephaly. Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 8; 2017 Mar 8. PMID: 28272472
• Akins MR, Berk-Rauch HE, Kwan KY, Mitchell ME, Shepard KA, Korsak LI, Stackpole EE, Warner-Schmidt JL, Sestan N, Cameron HA, Fallon JR: Axonal ribosomes and mRNAs associate with fragile X granules in adult rodent and human brains. Hum Mol Genet. 2017 Jan 1. PMID: 28082376
• Lin Z, Yang C, Zhu Y, Duchi J, Fu Y, Wang Y, Jiang B, Zamanighomi M, Xu X, Li M, Sestan N, Zhao H, Wong WH: Simultaneous dimension reduction and adjustment for confounding variation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Dec 20; 2016 Dec 7. PMID: 27930330
• Ataman B, Boulting GL, Harmin DA, Yang MG, Baker-Salisbury M, Yap EL, Malik AN, Mei K, Rubin AA, Spiegel I, Durresi E, Sharma N, Hu LS, Pletikos M, Griffith EC, Partlow JN, Stevens CR, Adli M, Chahrour M, Sestan N, Walsh CA, Berezovskii VK, Livingstone MS, Greenberg ME: Evolution of Osteocrin as an activity-regulated factor in the primate brain. Nature. 2016 Nov 10. PMID: 27830782
• Ding SL, Royall JJ, Sunkin SM, Ng L, Facer BA, Lesnar P, Guillozet-Bongaarts A, McMurray B, Szafer A, Dolbeare TA, Stevens A, Tirrell L, Benner T, Caldejon S, Dalley RA, Dee N, Lau C, Nyhus J, Reding M, Riley ZL, Sandman D, Shen E, van der Kouwe A, Varjabedian A, Write M, Zollei L, Dang C, Knowles JA, Koch C, Phillips JW, Sestan N, Wohnoutka P, Zielke HR, Hohmann JG, Jones AR, Bernard A, Hawrylycz MJ, Hof PR, Fischl B, Lein ES: Comprehensive cellular-resolution atlas of the adult human brain. J Comp Neurol. 2016 Nov 1. PMID: 27418273
• Caubit X, Gubellini P, Andrieux J, Roubertoux PL, Metwaly M, Jacq B, Fatmi A, Had-Aissouni L, Kwan KY, Salin P, Carlier M, Liedén A, Rudd E, Shinawi M, Vincent-Delorme C, Cuisset JM, Lemaitre MP, Abderrehamane F, Duban B, Lemaitre JF, Woolf AS, Bockenhauer D, Severac D, Dubois E, Zhu Y, Sestan N, Garratt AN, Goff LK, Fasano L: TSHZ3 deletion causes an autism syndrome and defects in cortical projection neurons. Nat Genet. 2016 Nov; 2016 Sep 26. PMID: 27668656
• Onorati M, Li Z, Liu F, Sousa AMM, Nakagawa N, Li M, Dell'Anno MT, Gulden FO, Pochareddy S, Tebbenkamp ATN, Han W, Pletikos M, Gao T, Zhu Y, Bichsel C, Varela L, Szigeti-Buck K, Lisgo S, Zhang Y, Testen A, Gao XB, Mlakar J, Popovic M, Flamand M, Strittmatter SM, Kaczmarek LK, Anton ES, Horvath TL, Lindenbach BD, Sestan N: Zika Virus Disrupts Phospho-TBK1 Localization and Mitosis in Human Neuroepithelial Stem Cells and Radial Glia. Cell Rep. 2016 Sep 6; 2016 Aug 24. PMID: 27568284
• Kawasawa YI, Salzberg AC, Li M, Šestan N, Greer CA, Imamura F: RNA-seq analysis of developing olfactory bulb projection neurons. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2016 Jul; 2016 Apr 9. PMID: 27073125
• Olmos-Serrano JL, Kang HJ, Tyler WA, Silbereis JC, Cheng F, Zhu Y, Pletikos M, Jankovic-Rapan L, Cramer NP, Galdzicki Z, Goodliffe J, Peters A, Sethares C, Delalle I, Golden JA, Haydar TF, Sestan N: Down Syndrome Developmental Brain Transcriptome Reveals Defective Oligodendrocyte Differentiation and Myelination. Neuron. 2016 Mar 16; 2016 Feb 25. PMID: 26924435
• Lennington JB, Coppola G, Kataoka-Sasaki Y, Fernandez TV, Palejev D, Li Y, Huttner A, Pletikos M, Sestan N, Leckman JF, Vaccarino FM: Transcriptome Analysis of the Human Striatum in Tourette Syndrome. Biol Psychiatry. 2016 Mar 1; 2014 Jul 24. PMID: 25199956
• Silbereis JC, Pochareddy S, Zhu Y, Li M, Sestan N: The Cellular and Molecular Landscapes of the Developing Human Central Nervous System. Neuron. 2016 Jan 20. PMID: 26796689
• D'Gama AM, Pochareddy S, Li M, Jamuar SS, Reiff RE, Lam AN, Sestan N, Walsh CA: Targeted DNA Sequencing from Autism Spectrum Disorder Brains Implicates Multiple Genetic Mechanisms. Neuron. 2015 Dec 2. PMID: 26637798
• PsychENCODE Consortium., Akbarian S, Liu C, Knowles JA, Vaccarino FM, Farnham PJ, Crawford GE, Jaffe AE, Pinto D, Dracheva S, Geschwind DH, Mill J, Nairn AC, Abyzov A, Pochareddy S, Prabhakar S, Weissman S, Sullivan PF, State MW, Weng Z, Peters MA, White KP, Gerstein MB, Amiri A, Armoskus C, Ashley-Koch AE, Bae T, Beckel-Mitchener A, Berman BP, Coetzee GA, Coppola G, Francoeur N, Fromer M, Gao R, Grennan K, Herstein J, Kavanagh DH, Ivanov NA, Jiang Y, Kitchen RR, Kozlenkov A, Kundakovic M, Li M, Li Z, Liu S, Mangravite LM, Mattei E, Markenscoff-Papadimitriou E, Navarro FC, North N, Omberg L, Panchision D, Parikshak N, Poschmann J, Price AJ, Purcaro M, Reddy TE, Roussos P, Schreiner S, Scuderi S, Sebra R, Shibata M, Shieh AW, Skarica M, Sun W, Swarup V, Thomas A, Tsuji J, van Bakel H, Wang D, Wang Y, Wang K, Werling DM, Willsey AJ, Witt H, Won H, Wong CC, Wray GA, Wu EY, Xu X, Yao L, Senthil G, Lehner T, Sklar P, Sestan N: The PsychENCODE project. Nat Neurosci. 2015 Dec. PMID: 26605881
• Nishimura S, Bilgüvar K, Ishigame K, Sestan N, Günel M, Louvi A: Functional synergy between cholecystokinin receptors CCKAR and CCKBR in mammalian brain development. PLoS One. 2015; 2015 Apr 15. PMID: 25875176
• Lun MP, Johnson MB, Broadbelt KG, Watanabe M, Kang YJ, Chau KF, Springel MW, Malesz A, Sousa AM, Pletikos M, Adelita T, Calicchio ML, Zhang Y, Holtzman MJ, Lidov HG, Sestan N, Steen H, Monuki ES, Lehtinen MK: Spatially heterogeneous choroid plexus transcriptomes encode positional identity and contribute to regional CSF production. J Neurosci. 2015 Mar 25. PMID: 25810521
• Cotney J, Muhle RA, Sanders SJ, Liu L, Willsey AJ, Niu W, Liu W, Klei L, Lei J, Yin J, Reilly SK, Tebbenkamp AT, Bichsel C, Pletikos M, Sestan N, Roeder K, State MW, Devlin B, Noonan JP: The autism-associated chromatin modifier CHD8 regulates other autism risk genes during human neurodevelopment. Nat Commun. 2015 Mar 10; 2015 Mar 10. PMID: 25752243
• Lin Z, Sanders SJ, Li M, Sestan N, State MW, Zhao H: A MARKOV RANDOM FIELD-BASED APPROACH TO CHARACTERIZING HUMAN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT USING SPATIAL-TEMPORAL TRANSCRIPTOME DATA. Ann Appl Stat. 2015 Mar. PMID: 26877824
• Ercan-Sencicek AG, Jambi S, Franjic D, Nishimura S, Li M, El-Fishawy P, Morgan TM, Sanders SJ, Bilguvar K, Suri M, Johnson MH, Gupta AR, Yuksel Z, Mane S, Grigorenko E, Picciotto M, Alberts AS, Gunel M, Šestan N, State MW: Homozygous loss of DIAPH1 is a novel cause of microcephaly in humans. Eur J Hum Genet. 2015 Feb; 2014 Apr 30. PMID: 24781755
• Ouyang A, Jeon T, Sunkin SM, Pletikos M, Sedmak G, Sestan N, Lein ES, Huang H: Spatial mapping of structural and connectional imaging data for the developing human brain with diffusion tensor imaging. Methods. 2015 Feb; 2014 Nov 6. PMID: 25448302
• Shibata M, Gulden FO, Sestan N: From trans to cis: transcriptional regulatory networks in neocortical development. Trends Genet. 2015 Feb; 2015 Jan 24. PMID: 25624274
• Mishra-Gorur K, Çağlayan AO, Schaffer AE, Chabu C, Henegariu O, Vonhoff F, Akgümüş GT, Nishimura S, Han W, Tu S, Baran B, Gümüş H, Dilber C, Zaki MS, Hossni HA, Rivière JB, Kayserili H, Spencer EG, Rosti RÖ, Schroth J, Per H, Çağlar C, Çağlar Ç, Dölen D, Baranoski JF, Kumandaş S, Minja FJ, Erson-Omay EZ, Mane SM, Lifton RP, Xu T, Keshishian H, Dobyns WB, Chi NC, Šestan N, Louvi A, Bilgüvar K, Yasuno K, Gleeson JG, Günel M: Mutations in KATNB1 cause complex cerebral malformations by disrupting asymmetrically dividing neural progenitors. Neuron. 2014 Dec 17. PMID: 25521378
• Caglayan AO, Baranoski JF, Aktar F, Han W, Tuysuz B, Guzel A, Guclu B, Kaymakcalan H, Aktekin B, Akgumus GT, Murray PB, Erson-Omay EZ, Caglar C, Bakircioglu M, Sakalar YB, Guzel E, Demir N, Tuncer O, Senturk S, Ekici B, Minja FJ, Šestan N, Yasuno K, Bilguvar K, Caksen H, Gunel M: Brain malformations associated with Knobloch syndrome--review of literature, expanding clinical spectrum, and identification of novel mutations. Pediatr Neurol. 2014 Dec; 2014 Sep 4. PMID: 25456301
• Gulden FO, Šestan N: Neurobiology: building a bigger brain. Nature. 2014 Nov 13. PMID: 25391958
• Lee FS, Heimer H, Giedd JN, Lein ES, Šestan N, Weinberger DR, Casey BJ: Mental health. Adolescent mental health--opportunity and obligation. Science. 2014 Oct 31. PMID: 25359951
• Zhu Y, Li M, Sousa AM, Sestan N: XSAnno: a framework for building ortholog models in cross-species transcriptome comparisons. BMC Genomics. 2014 May 7; 2014 May 7. PMID: 24884593
• Gupta AR, Pirruccello M, Cheng F, Kang HJ, Fernandez TV, Baskin JM, Choi M, Liu L, Ercan-Sencicek AG, Murdoch JD, Klei L, Neale BM, Franjic D, Daly MJ, Lifton RP, De Camilli P, Zhao H, Sestan N, State MW: Rare deleterious mutations of the gene EFR3A in autism spectrum disorders. Mol Autism. 2014; 2014 Apr 29. PMID: 24860643
• Miller JA, Ding SL, Sunkin SM, Smith KA, Ng L, Szafer A, Ebbert A, Riley ZL, Royall JJ, Aiona K, Arnold JM, Bennet C, Bertagnolli D, Brouner K, Butler S, Caldejon S, Carey A, Cuhaciyan C, Dalley RA, Dee N, Dolbeare TA, Facer BA, Feng D, Fliss TP, Gee G, Goldy J, Gourley L, Gregor BW, Gu G, Howard RE, Jochim JM, Kuan CL, Lau C, Lee CK, Lee F, Lemon TA, Lesnar P, McMurray B, Mastan N, Mosqueda N, Naluai-Cecchini T, Ngo NK, Nyhus J, Oldre A, Olson E, Parente J, Parker PD, Parry SE, Stevens A, Pletikos M, Reding M, Roll K, Sandman D, Sarreal M, Shapouri S, Shapovalova NV, Shen EH, Sjoquist N, Slaughterbeck CR, Smith M, Sodt AJ, Williams D, Zöllei L, Fischl B, Gerstein MB, Geschwind DH, Glass IA, Hawrylycz MJ, Hevner RF, Huang H, Jones AR, Knowles JA, Levitt P, Phillips JW, Sestan N, Wohnoutka P, Dang C, Bernard A, Hohmann JG, Lein ES: Transcriptional landscape of the prenatal human brain. Nature. 2014 Apr 10; 2014 Apr 2. PMID: 24695229
• Tebbenkamp AT, Willsey AJ, State MW, Sestan N: The developmental transcriptome of the human brain: implications for neurodevelopmental disorders. Curr Opin Neurol. 2014 Apr. PMID: 24565942
• Carlyle BC, Nairn AC, Wang M, Yang Y, Jin LE, Simen AA, Ramos BP, Bordner KA, Craft GE, Davies P, Pletikos M, Šestan N, Arnsten AF, Paspalas CD: cAMP-PKA phosphorylation of tau confers risk for degeneration in aging association cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Apr 1; 2014 Mar 18. PMID: 24707050
• Fertuzinhos S, Li M, Kawasawa YI, Ivic V, Franjic D, Singh D, Crair M, Sestan N: Laminar and temporal expression dynamics of coding and noncoding RNAs in the mouse neocortex. Cell Rep. 2014 Mar 13; 2014 Feb 20. PMID: 24561256
• Pletikos M, Sousa AM, Sedmak G, Meyer KA, Zhu Y, Cheng F, Li M, Kawasawa YI, Sestan N: Temporal specification and bilaterality of human neocortical topographic gene expression. Neuron. 2014 Jan 22; 2013 Dec 26. PMID: 24373884
• Xie M, Li M, Vilborg A, Lee N, Shu MD, Yartseva V, Šestan N, Steitz JA: Mammalian 5'-capped microRNA precursors that generate a single microRNA. Cell. 2013 Dec 19. PMID: 24360278
• Han W, Sestan N: Cortical projection neurons: sprung from the same root. Neuron. 2013 Dec 4. PMID: 24314721
• Willsey AJ, Sanders SJ, Li M, Dong S, Tebbenkamp AT, Muhle RA, Reilly SK, Lin L, Fertuzinhos S, Miller JA, Murtha MT, Bichsel C, Niu W, Cotney J, Ercan-Sencicek AG, Gockley J, Gupta AR, Han W, He X, Hoffman EJ, Klei L, Lei J, Liu W, Liu L, Lu C, Xu X, Zhu Y, Mane SM, Lein ES, Wei L, Noonan JP, Roeder K, Devlin B, Sestan N, State MW: Coexpression networks implicate human midfetal deep cortical projection neurons in the pathogenesis of autism. Cell. 2013 Nov 21. PMID: 24267886
• Li H, Fertuzinhos S, Mohns E, Hnasko TS, Verhage M, Edwards R, Sestan N, Crair MC: Laminar and columnar development of barrel cortex relies on thalamocortical neurotransmission. Neuron. 2013 Sep 4. PMID: 24012009
• State MW, Šestan N: Neuroscience. The emerging biology of autism spectrum disorders. Science. 2012 Sep 14. PMID: 22984058
• Shim S, Kwan KY, Li M, Lefebvre V, Sestan N: Cis-regulatory control of corticospinal system development and evolution. Nature. 2012 May 30; 2012 May 30. PMID: 22678282
• Kwan KY, Lam MM, Johnson MB, Dube U, Shim S, Rašin MR, Sousa AM, Fertuzinhos S, Chen JG, Arellano JI, Chan DW, Pletikos M, Vasung L, Rowitch DH, Huang EJ, Schwartz ML, Willemsen R, Oostra BA, Rakic P, Heffer M, Kostović I, Judaš M, Sestan N: Species-dependent posttranscriptional regulation of NOS1 by FMRP in the developing cerebral cortex. Cell. 2012 May 11. PMID: 22579290
• Kwan KY, Sestan N, Anton ES: Transcriptional co-regulation of neuronal migration and laminar identity in the neocortex. Development. 2012 May. PMID: 22492350
• Sanders SJ, Murtha MT, Gupta AR, Murdoch JD, Raubeson MJ, Willsey AJ, Ercan-Sencicek AG, DiLullo NM, Parikshak NN, Stein JL, Walker MF, Ober GT, Teran NA, Song Y, El-Fishawy P, Murtha RC, Choi M, Overton JD, Bjornson RD, Carriero NJ, Meyer KA, Bilguvar K, Mane SM, Sestan N, Lifton RP, Günel M, Roeder K, Geschwind DH, Devlin B, State MW: De novo mutations revealed by whole-exome sequencing are strongly associated with autism. Nature. 2012 Apr 4; 2012 Apr 4. PMID: 22495306
• Kang HJ, Kawasawa YI, Cheng F, Zhu Y, Xu X, Li M, Sousa AM, Pletikos M, Meyer KA, Sedmak G, Guennel T, Shin Y, Johnson MB, Krsnik Z, Mayer S, Fertuzinhos S, Umlauf S, Lisgo SN, Vortmeyer A, Weinberger DR, Mane S, Hyde TM, Huttner A, Reimers M, Kleinman JE, Sestan N: Spatio-temporal transcriptome of the human brain. Nature. 2011 Oct 26; 2011 Oct 26. PMID: 22031440
• Barak T, Kwan KY, Louvi A, Demirbilek V, Saygı S, Tüysüz B, Choi M, Boyacı H, Doerschner K, Zhu Y, Kaymakçalan H, Yılmaz S, Bakırcıoğlu M, Cağlayan AO, Oztürk AK, Yasuno K, Brunken WJ, Atalar E, Yalçınkaya C, Dinçer A, Bronen RA, Mane S, Ozçelik T, Lifton RP, Sestan N, Bilgüvar K, Günel M: Recessive LAMC3 mutations cause malformations of occipital cortical development. Nat Genet. 2011 Jun; 2011 May 15. PMID: 21572413
• Han W, Kwan KY, Shim S, Lam MM, Shin Y, Xu X, Zhu Y, Li M, Sestan N: TBR1 directly represses Fezf2 to control the laminar origin and development of the corticospinal tract. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Feb 15; 2011 Feb 1. PMID: 21285371
• Bilgüvar K, Oztürk AK, Louvi A, Kwan KY, Choi M, Tatli B, Yalnizoğlu D, Tüysüz B, Cağlayan AO, Gökben S, Kaymakçalan H, Barak T, Bakircioğlu M, Yasuno K, Ho W, Sanders S, Zhu Y, Yilmaz S, Dinçer A, Johnson MH, Bronen RA, Koçer N, Per H, Mane S, Pamir MN, Yalçinkaya C, Kumandaş S, Topçu M, Ozmen M, Sestan N, Lifton RP, State MW, Günel M: Whole-exome sequencing identifies recessive WDR62 mutations in severe brain malformations. Nature. 2010 Sep 9; 2010 Aug 22. PMID: 20729831
• Fertuzinhos S, Krsnik Z, Kawasawa YI, Rasin MR, Kwan KY, Chen JG, Judas M, Hayashi M, Sestan N: Selective depletion of molecularly defined cortical interneurons in human holoprosencephaly with severe striatal hypoplasia. Cereb Cortex. 2009 Sep; 2009 Feb 20. PMID: 19234067
• Ros H, Sachdev RN, Yu Y, Sestan N, McCormick DA: Neocortical networks entrain neuronal circuits in cerebellar cortex. J Neurosci. 2009 Aug 19. PMID: 19692605
• Johnson MB, Kawasawa YI, Mason CE, Krsnik Z, Coppola G, Bogdanović D, Geschwind DH, Mane SM, State MW, Sestan N: Functional and evolutionary insights into human brain development through global transcriptome analysis. Neuron. 2009 May 28. PMID: 19477152
• Stillman AA, Krsnik Z, Sun J, Rasin MR, State MW, Sestan N, Louvi A: Developmentally regulated and evolutionarily conserved expression of SLITRK1 in brain circuits implicated in Tourette syndrome. J Comp Neurol. 2009 Mar 1. PMID: 19105198
• Hashimoto-Torii K, Torii M, Sarkisian MR, Bartley CM, Shen J, Radtke F, Gridley T, Sestan N, Rakic P: Interaction between Reelin and Notch signaling regulates neuronal migration in the cerebral cortex. Neuron. 2008 Oct 23. PMID: 18957219
• Kwan KY, Lam MM, Krsnik Z, Kawasawa YI, Lefebvre V, Sestan N: SOX5 postmitotically regulates migration, postmigratory differentiation, and projections of subplate and deep-layer neocortical neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Oct 14; 2008 Oct 7. PMID: 18840685
• Breunig JJ, Silbereis J, Vaccarino FM, Sestan N, Rakic P: Notch regulates cell fate and dendrite morphology of newborn neurons in the postnatal dentate gyrus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Dec 18; 2007 Dec 11. PMID: 18077357
• Rasin MR, Gazula VR, Breunig JJ, Kwan KY, Johnson MB, Liu-Chen S, Li HS, Jan LY, Jan YN, Rakic P, Sestan N: Numb and Numbl are required for maintenance of cadherin-based adhesion and polarity of neural progenitors. Nat Neurosci. 2007 Jul; 2007 Jun 24. PMID: 17589506
• Smith KM, Ohkubo Y, Maragnoli ME, Rasin MR, Schwartz ML, Sestan N, Vaccarino FM: Midline radial glia translocation and corpus callosum formation require FGF signaling. Nat Neurosci. 2006 Jun; 2006 May 21. PMID: 16715082
• Chen JG, Rasin MR, Kwan KY, Sestan N: Zfp312 is required for subcortical axonal projections and dendritic morphology of deep-layer pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Dec 6; 2005 Nov 28. PMID: 16314561
• Abelson JF, Kwan KY, O'Roak BJ, Baek DY, Stillman AA, Morgan TM, Mathews CA, Pauls DL, Rasin MR, Gunel M, Davis NR, Ercan-Sencicek AG, Guez DH, Spertus JA, Leckman JF, Dure LS 4th, Kurlan R, Singer HS, Gilbert DL, Farhi A, Louvi A, Lifton RP, Sestan N, State MW: Sequence variants in SLITRK1 are associated with Tourette's syndrome. Science. 2005 Oct 14. PMID: 16224024

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